" Style is more than just clothing, it is a way for many teens to express who they are and who they want to be. It is a thing most teenagers can bond over. Nowhere is this more true than at OSA where students are already brought together by creativity and artistry. "
--Triece Kushner
Next to art, fashion is one of the most creative ways to express yourself visually. Designing and creating outfits is an art that can help express gender identity and can help gain confidence when needed. As an art school, OSA’s students are extremely creative, leading its fashion scene to be incredibly unique and diverse.
Fashion can help with queer expression, helping many nonbinary/gender queer kids have an outlet to express themselves. Fashion can be a way to experiment with different identities, helping people articulate and form themselves. People can be free to choose to be more mascline presenting one day and then more femine presenting the other. Many of OSA’s students identify as gender-queer, making OSA’s fashion scene more and more unique.
“Fashion means so much, I’ve been interested in fashion since I was a kid. It’s my source of self-expression and gender expression. Living through outfits brings out a confidence level that I don’t always have, if I don’t have confidence I find it in my outfits. I’m not a man, I am no-binary and I can express that through my clothes.” Says Xander Vazquez, a senior in theater.
Oakland itself is a very diverse city, filled with many different cultures and influences from all over the world. With a population of over 451,000 people, it is the largest city in the Eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Bay Area’s street fashion is known for being trendy and well dressed, with its influences from history and culture fashion is tied very closely to the music and art of the bay.
“I make a lot of my clothes, so I can customize them for myself. I get a lot of inspo from the area I’m in. A lot of times I dress to appeal to the environment, so like if I’m in New York I would wear something more current, something that grabs more attention/bolder versus if it was somewhere less fashion-based.” says a 10th grader in visual arts, Leyna Dicruttalo.
“Fashion helps me identify people similar to me. People who dress with care can identify people with care and it helps me make friends. It helps me find social confidence.” Iona Kambouridis, a 10th grader in instrumental music says.
The OSA fashion scene is also very inspired by social media trends. Six out of ten people interviewed said that they base their outfits off of social media apps like Pinterest or TikTok. Y2K is one of the most popular trendy styles going on, walking through the hallways you will defetiny see lots of five-sizes to big jeans and baggy graphic tees. Although that is the inspiration for most outfits, OSA students tend to add their own personal twist to their fits.
“I look at all my clothes in the morning, lay everything out on my bed, and then I look outside and I base my outfit on how I feel about the day and what is going on that day. I also draw my inspiration from people like Pharrell Williams and Yayoi Kusama.” 11th grader Joaquin Zuniga-Perlstein from the fashion department says.
Style is more than just clothing, it is a way for many teens to express who they are and who they want to be. It is a thing most teenagers can bond over. Nowhere is this more true than at OSA where students are already brought together by creativity and artistry.
The OSA fashion scene is also very inspired by social media trends. Six out of ten people interviewed said that they base their outfits off of social media apps like Pinterest or TikTok. Y2K is one of the most popular trendy styles going on, walking through the hallways you will defetiny see lots of five-sizes to big jeans and baggy graphic tees. Although that is the inspiration for most outfits, OSA students tend to add their own personal twist to their fits.
“I look at all my clothes in the morning, lay everything out on my bed, and then I look outside and I base my outfit on how I feel about the day and what is going on that day. I also draw my inspiration from people like Pharrell Williams and Yayoi Kusama.” 11th grader Joaquin Zuniga-Perlstein from the fashion department says.
Style is more than just clothing, it is a way for many teens to express who they are and who they want to be. It is a thing most teenagers can bond over. Nowhere is this more true than at OSA where students are already brought together by creativity and artistry.
